Javier Hernandez: Leaving Chicharito out of Vital Playoff Paid off for El Tri

Miguel Herrera's $600 million gamble of leaving Mexican stars like Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez off the roster while El Tri try to salvage a World Cup bid in a last-chance playoff against New Zealand worked to perfection in Wednesday's first leg. 

Mexico beat New Zealand 5-1 to take a commanding aggregate lead in the two-leg affair. El Tri will have to travel to New Zealand on Nov. 20 to secure a spot in Brazil next year, but it is nearly impossible to envision a stingy Mexican defense allowing New Zealand, ranked 79th in the world, to come anywhere close to catching up on aggregate. 

This will be worth roughly $600 million in sponsorship money—at least that's what ESPN's Darren Rovell estimated hinges on Mexico advancing to the World Cup: 

As if El Tri needed any more incentive to qualify for the World Cup.

Given the enormity of the situation, it would stand to reason that Herrera would be leaning on his biggest stars to pull out a victory.

The new coach did exactly the opposite. 

Herrera named an all-domestic squad, which means European-based stars like Chicharito and Giovani dos Santos were not with the team for this pivotal game. 

However, Mexico dominated without them, though there were some tense moments in the early going at the surprisingly soggy Azteca Stadium. It wasn't until the 32nd minute that Paul Aguilar opened up Mexico's scoring.

The goals flowed after that.

Raul Jimenez netted a score just eight minutes later. Oribe Peralta Morones added his first of two scores on the day in the 48th minute. Rafael Marquez also joined the scoring party with a goal in the 84th minute.

In all, Mexico fired 21 shots, with 10 of them on target, and held possession for 73 percent of the match. It was a dominant performance, one that was badly needed for Herrera, this team and fans of El Tri. 

Herrera recently took over coaching duties from Victor Manuel Vucetich after Vucetich was on the job for less than two months. He had taken over for Luis Fernando Tena. Tena managed for one game after taking over for Jose Manuel de la Torre.

Those three men almost led an underachieving El Tri right out of the World Cup. An anemic Mexican attack mustered just seven goals in 10 hexagonal matches. 

Playing in Herrera's 5-3-2, Mexico had no problem scoring goals in this match. The five goals scored almost equaled Mexico's total for the entire hexagonal.

Herrera has been leaning heavily on his former players from Club America, and it is helping this team transition from the 4-2-3-1 and 4-4-2 formations that had been prominent during Mexico's recent woes.

Now, Herrera has an established method of play in place for the national team, and he has done so without El Tri's biggest name. This will force Chicharito and others to mold their styles to fit into the team.

This will expedite the transitional period for Herrera and leave El Tri in far better shape for the World Cup when Mexico inevitably advance next week.